Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 53 Liu Jianjun: My dear son, are you afraid?
"Your Majesty, I wish to request that Your Majesty recall Zian."

Li Xian pursed his lips, suddenly feeling a little sad.

Because Liu Jianjun said this: "My dear son, there is definitely no problem for you to ask your mother for Wang Bo, because your father is dying, and your mother, as his bedmate, knows this best."

"So at this crucial moment, she will smooth out all the unstable factors for Da Bao's sake, even if you are just a prince with no power or influence!"

"Because the very identity of a prince is the biggest destabilizing factor."

"You will definitely encounter some obstacles and tests, because your mother will never want to use a bigger problem to smooth over the small problem at hand."

"So, what you need to do at this time is to make your mother feel that whether or not Wang Bo is recalled is irrelevant to her, or even more beneficial than harmful!"

Li Xian thought to himself: Is Father really about to die?
How can I make my mother think that this matter is unimportant?

"Zi'an? Is that Wang Bo, the compiler in your household, Prince Zi'an?" Empress Wu's voice made Li Xian respond.

Li Xian hurriedly nodded and replied, "Yes."

He added, “Zi’an and I have a past relationship. He was expelled from the palace in the past only because of the cockfighting poem, which had nothing to do with the treason case. Your son… wants to plead for him.”

Empress Wu nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Was it just Wang Bo alone?"

Just as Li Xian was about to nod, Empress Wu asked again, "You used to value Zhang Da'an, who was in your household. Why didn't you plead for him?"

As expected, Empress Wu's test came.

Li Xian calmly said, "Even though Mr. Zhang has been demoted, he is still a pillar of our Tang Dynasty. I am no longer the Crown Prince, and it is a great taboo for me to make friends with court officials in private. If anyone is pleading for him, it should be His Highness the Crown Prince who pleads for him."

After listening, Empress Wu nodded with relief: "Mingyun has matured a lot. It seems that this calamity in Bazhou is not all bad for you."

"Your past treason case has not been overturned, so Zhang Da'an cannot escape his guilt, and the Empress Dowager is powerless to do anything about it."

"But the Empress Dowager knows that you are very sentimental and cherish old friendships, so she wants to transfer your former teacher back to Chang'an. What do you think?"

Li Xian feigned surprise: "Mr. Liu?"

"Well, Liu Nayan's only crime is inadequate tutoring. With a little mediation from the Empress Dowager, he can be allowed to return to your Prince Pei's residence. However, there is much gossip in the court, so you must not spread this matter carelessly." Empress Wu's tone sounded as if she was considering Li Xian's best interests.

Li Xian hurriedly expressed his gratitude, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, Mother!"

……

The Prince of Pei's Mansion.

"That old woman is shameless! She planted a spy to watch you, and she acts like it's for your own good!"

As soon as the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven ended, Li Xian went straight back to the Prince of Pei's residence and told Liu Jianjun about his conversation with Empress Wu, including his fiefdom of Liangzhou, his transfer to the governorship of Yongzhou, and his mother's plan to transfer Liu Neyan back to his post.

As expected, Liu Jianjun looked indignant.

Then he asked, "What about Wang Bo? Was Wang Bo transferred back?"

"The Empress Dowager readily agreed to Zian's request, but Zian is currently far away in Jiaozhi, which is a long and arduous journey. It will probably take more than a month for him to return to Chang'an..."

Liu Jianjun interjected, "Time is not a problem. At worst, you can just bear with it and live under Liu Neyan's nose for a while until he comes back."

Li Xian nodded, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself.

Liu Jianjun asked, "What's wrong?"

Li Xian hesitated for a moment before saying, "I just feel... that Mr. Liu might not be a spy planted by the Empress Dowager. Mr. Liu has always been a prudent person..."

“Xianzi!” Liu Jianjun suddenly interrupted Li Xian solemnly.

"Ok?"

"We are going against your mother, and it's no exaggeration to say that we are going against the smartest woman in all of history. So don't be emotional, be absolutely rational! Because that's the kind of person your mother is!"

Liu Jianjun's expression became extremely serious, and he emphasized, "Yes, Liu Neyan may not really be a spy planted by your mother. I can even find a series of supporting evidence for this."

"For example, when you were demoted, your mother never thought you would come back, so she didn't try to win over Liu Nayan."

"For example, your time back in Chang'an from Bazhou is extremely short, and she doesn't have enough time to arrange these things."

"For example, now is the most critical time for your mother. She may just want to use Liu Nayan to appease you, this uncertain factor."

"But even with so much corroborating evidence, I can't completely trust him!"

At this point, Liu Jianjun suddenly turned Li Xian's shoulder, stared intently into his eyes, and said, "Xianzi, the only person I can completely trust is you, because in my eyes, you are a dead man, and only the dead can be completely trusted."

Li Xian was stunned.

"When you hung your head on that crooked jujube tree, I was certain that you were not in cahoots with Empress Wu, because you had already been killed by her by then!"

“I can’t completely trust anyone else unless they’re dead too.”

"So, if Liu Neyan had died, I would have completely trusted him, but now that he's 'come back to life,' he's not worthy of complete trust, understand?"

Liu Jianjun's expression was extremely serious, with an emotion that Li Xian couldn't understand, as if he had seen through everything.

Li Xian didn't understand, but out of trust in Liu Jianjun, he subconsciously nodded.

But then he felt that the feedback he had given was not enough, so he solemnly grasped Liu Jianjun's hand and said, "How you treat me is how I will treat you!"

"Uh... alright, let's leave it at that." Liu Jianjun suddenly shook off Li Xian's hand and said with a look of disgust, "You're acting like you have homosexual tendencies. No wonder no one suspected you when someone falsely accused you of having homosexual tendencies with Zhao Daosheng!"

Liu Jianjun couldn't be serious for even a quarter of an hour!

Li Xian was annoyed and asked irritably, "So what should we do now?"

"Wait."

"Should we wait?"

"Otherwise what? Are we going to deliver vegetables to your mother with our small bodies?"
"Listen to me, your mother is at the height of her power right now. All we need to do is play it safe and develop our strength. We can visit brothels and have a few drinks now and then, so that she thinks you're just a lazy prince with no ambition and won't be wary of you. That's better than anything else!"

Li Xian thought of the majesty of Empress Wu he had witnessed at the sacrificial ceremony today, and fell silent for a moment.

Since her father fell seriously ill and the two emperors took over the court, Empress Wu's prestige has grown increasingly powerful, and now she is no different from her father. If she really wanted to target me, it would be a matter of just a word.

"What's wrong? Scared?" Liu Jianjun suddenly looked over with a teasing smile. "If you're really afraid of your mother, we can just quit. You can be a carefree prince, and I'll lean on you, drink some wine, and visit brothels. Enjoying this prosperous Tang Dynasty wouldn't be so bad..."

Before Liu Jianjun could finish speaking, Li Xian interrupted him, saying, "Liu Jianjun, do you remember when we were in Liu Family Village, I asked you if you were afraid of killing people?"

Liu Jianjun was taken aback.

Li Xian looked into Liu Jianjun's eyes and said seriously, "I am afraid of the Empress Dowager, but as long as she is not in front of me, I am not afraid."

Liu Jianjun suddenly grinned.

……

(End of this chapter)